


The One Where Jaskier Can Barely Hunt a Rabbit

by An_Actual_Rat



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alpha Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, But it's okay, Cold, Huddling For Warmth, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Omega Jaskier | Dandelion, Pack, Wolves, actual wolves, courting, geralt helps him, jaskier is bad at being a wolf, sharing food
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24719320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/An_Actual_Rat/pseuds/An_Actual_Rat
Summary: When Jaskier ran away from the hunters that killed the rest of his pack, he came across Geralt's pack in the mountains. The other pack tried to chase him away, but Jaskier decided to stick around-mostly because he could not keep his eyes off of the giant white wolf that led this pack. Geralt and his pack began to notice that Jaskier was not good at being a wolf. He hunted poorly, and so he did not have enough food to keep him full. The pack needed to decide: do they help this lone omega or did they leave him to fend for himself?This fic is based off of a prompt by mewwew. I hope that I managed to do your prompt justice and that it is what you were looking for.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 11
Kudos: 431





	The One Where Jaskier Can Barely Hunt a Rabbit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mewwew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mewwew/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Fic ideas I'd love to see written](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24129214) by [mewwew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mewwew/pseuds/mewwew). 



> I don't normally like writing anything with the alpha/beta/omega trope, but I thought this prompt was cute, so I wanted to write it. If you want to read the entire prompt given by mewwew, I'll link it right here. It does outline the entire fic, though, so I wouldn't read it before reading the fic if you don't want spoilers.
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/24129214?view_adult=true

Jaskier had been wandering around alone for days now. His old pack was killed off by hunters, and now he was without his family. He did not know how to hunt. He did not know any of the basic survival skills that most wolves knew. Jaskier’s pack used to spoil him, caring for their omega and not letting him run off on his own in their overprotectiveness, but that meant he did not learn the basic skills. He wished he had fought harder to be taught like everybody else, even though he knew that his pack would never have let him.

Now, he was alone, hungry, and longing for company. When the hunters attacked, he managed to get away and ran far from those who wanted to cause him harm. He was away from his home in the woods, and now he was lost in the mountains. He especially didn’t know how to survive in the mountains, but he was scared of running into the hunters again if he turned back.

After days of running, Jaskier found what he never thought he would up there: another pack. They were mostly alphas, but he thought one or two of them were betas or omegas. The alphas were larger than the ones that were in his old pack. They were running around, play-fighting. An older wolf sat at the side, watching with mild interest. One alpha was dominating the fight: a giant, white wolf. He was obviously the one in charge of the pack, and he was absolutely stunning. The others seemed to fight him honestly, but they obviously held a level of respect for the wolf. All of this Jaskier could tell from a distance. 

Jaskier crept a little closer, but this only led to all of their heads shooting up at once, their eyes landing straight on him. Growls began to ring out, frightening Jaskier. A few of them began to stalk towards him, trying to chase him off. Jaskier whimpered. He knew he could not take them on if they decided to attack him. Jaskier ran off before they could think of hurting him, sad that he was unable to try to explain himself. 

He wanted to leave, to find another pack that would welcome him, but it dawned upon him that he had no idea where he was at all. He would not know how to find any other wolves. He was more likely to run into more violent ones than he would friendly ones. No, he would have to stick around here. Jaskier would either have to convince this pack to help him or die trying. He was unsettled by how alright he was about both options.

Jaskier found a soft patch of vegetation to lay down on. He closed his eyes, hoping for a better next few days.

...

“The omega is still there,” Lambert told Geralt the next day. He didn’t actually speak out loud, of course, since they were, in fact, wolves. However, they were able to communicate with each other with thoughts, an ability only wolves had. Wolves mostly talked to their pack members, but they could also communicate with outsiders if they needed to. 

Geralt glanced up from where he was lying down for his nap. He could see the small, brown wolf sleeping a little ways away from where the pack was gathered. He looked pathetic laying over there alone, but he was an outsider, one that did not belong to his pack, so Geralt did not find himself caring too much. The omega needed to move along. Geralt’s pack did not take in too many outsiders, especially ones that came out of nowhere with no explanation. The omega could bring trouble for all they could tell.

“Just leave him,” Geralt said, “he’ll get tired of us trying to chase him away eventually.”

Geralt was proven wrong over the next few days. The omega stuck around for some reason. He was strangely attached to this area, and he seemed to want to get closer to the pack, even when they were constantly growling at him whenever he got too close to any of them. The omega especially liked trying to get near him, which he couldn’t figure out the reason to. 

“Have you heard his howl?” Yennefer, the only female alpha in the group, asked. 

“It’s obnoxious!” Lambert agreed.

“It’s not that bad,” Geralt said, confused as to what they were talking about. He had heard the little omega howl a few times in the past days, always after they chased him away. He howled in sadness, it seemed, and each time it made Geralt feel a little bit more guilt.

“It’s not that bad?” Lambert laughed. “Come on, Geralt, you’ve heard it before! It’s too high pitched! It’s like he’s trying to sing with it like those humans do sometimes!”

“Come on,” Eskel, Lambert’s omega, said. “He’s an omega. Of course it’s higher pitched.”

“Yours isn’t that high pitched.”

“I was raised among many rough alphas who trained me to be a warrior and keep my howl low and ferocious. I am not like normal omegas.”

“I like it when the omega howls,” Ciri, their only beta, said. “I actually like human singing, and it’s nice hearing a wolf with such a sing-songy howl.”

“Whatever,” Lambert grumbled, clearly upset that so many in his pack disagreed with him.

It was at this point that Vesemir, the old pack alpha in charge before he passed the title down to Geralt, brought up a concern that none of them had noticed before. “The omega does not know how to properly hunt. He has not eaten a whole meal this entire time, and he likely has not eaten much in the time it took him to get to this point in the mountains.”

“What? What has he been doing his whole life if he doesn't know how to hunt?” Yennefer asked. She also came from a different pack from her childhood that taught everybody how to hunt and fend for themselves. 

“I don’t know,” Vesemir said, “but he has not eaten anything more than a single rabbit he caught and some of the vegetation that he probably ate out of desperation.”

“What does it matter?” Lambert asked. “It shouldn’t bother us that he can’t hunt. It is not our job to worry about an omega that is trespassing on our territory. I say we chase him away for good next time, show him that he doesn’t belong here.”

“I agree that we are not responsible for an omega outside of our pack,” Eskel said, making Lambert perk up at hearing his mate on his side, “but I do not think it is right for us to scare him off when he obviously stumbled upon us for what we can only assume is a good reason.”

“We’ll wait and see what he does for a little while longer,” Geralt told them, “but if he starts to become a threat to us, we’ll force him to leave.”

The others agreed, settling back down again and not worrying about the omega who was sitting just far enough away for them to not hear the rumble of his stomach. 

Geralt began to keep an eye on the little omega as more days passed. He noticed how skinny the wolf really was. He walked around slower than he did when he first came upon their pack. The omega was less active as time went on, and he attempted to hunt less and less. Geralt had a bad feeling that it was because the hunger pains kept him from wanting to move too much. 

One day, as the pack was getting ready to eat the fresh meat that was caught that day for dinner, Geralt spoke up.

“The omega hasn’t moved all day.”

His pack members looked up at him, some having more concern on their faces than others. Even Lambert and Yennefer seemed to be a little bit worried about the omega.

“So?” Lambert asked, still trying to pretend like he didn’t care at all.

“He hasn’t even eaten any grass like he has been in a couple days, and he hasn’t had any proper food since before that.”

“Shouldn’t we do something?” Ciri asked, whimpering at the thought of the omega suffering in hunger. “Hasn’t he shown he isn’t a threat? Can’t we help him?”

Geralt glanced at the omega that was laying on his side far away from them, his body turned away from them. He could tell that the wolf was way too skinny. He would die soon if he didn’t eat. 

He made up his mind.

“What are you doing?” Eskel asked when Geralt tore off a large chunk of his meat without eating it and stood up. 

“I’m going to help him.”

“You do know that sharing food is considered a courting gift, right?” Vesemir asked.

“I’m sure he’ll understand that I’m just trying to help him out,” Geralt said. Vesemir wasn’t as convinced. 

“You sure you aren’t doing this because you think he’s pretty?” Eskel teased, knowing full well that the other omega would be quite an attractive one when he wasn’t so sick with starvation. 

Geralt growled at him, but Eskel only snickered. He was not afraid of Geralt. He knew that the alpha would never hurt anybody in his pack.

“I’ll be right back,” Geralt said as he left them.

Ciri, Eskel, and Vesemir looked relieved. Lambert and Yennefer did not react, but the others could tell that they secretly cared about what would happen to the omega. They all watched as Geralt approached the omega.

...

Jaskier was so hungry. He had never been this hungry in his life. His old pack always made sure he was well fed and never had to feel the stabbing pains that came with starvation. He didn’t even want to move right now because whenever he did, it just sent pain all throughout his entire body. He was sure that he was going to die like this. There was no way he was going to make it much longer. 

He could faintly hear the sounds of the other wolves getting ready to eat their own meal. What he could smell of the meat was so good, and he wished that he could get his paws on some of it. If only he was better at hunting. 

He must have been starting to hallucinate because he could have sworn that the smell of the meat was getting closer. In fact, he could hear footsteps coming his way, which definitely proved that he was beginning to lose it because nobody around there would come over to him.

Legs appeared in front of him, but Jaskier could not bring himself to look up at whatever wolf was in front of him. He could barely concentrate on the world around him. If the pack finally decided to send somebody over to kill him for intruding on them, then he would welcome death with open arms. He was ready to go.

However, the wolf was not there to kill him. A large chunk of meat was dropped in front of him, startling Jaskier. He eyed the meat before finally looking up at the wolf in front of him.

He was shocked. It was the white wolf that he was so captivated by, the one that made it worth staying just so he could watch him all day. There he was, giving Jaskier some meat. He was sharing his food with him. Could it be? Could he have somehow made this wolf notice him as a good potential mate as well? But what would the alpha’s pack think? They obviously all hated him, as they were always chasing him off. And why now? Why was this alpha approaching him after so much time?

“Eat it,” the wolf demanded. Jaskier tried to sit up to obey the wolf, but more pain shot through his stomach. He gave a pained whimper as he tried again, but he only managed to flop down onto his stomach, just out of reach of being able to eat the food.

“I-” Jaskier tried to say, not used to communicating anymore and in too much pain to think straight. “I can’t-”

The alpha nudged the meat closer to him. When it was close enough for Jaskier to bite at it weakly, he stepped back again, giving him space. Jaskier nibbled at the meat, so grateful to finally have food, though he knew his stomach would protest if he ate too much too fast.

“Thank you,” Jaskier said once he was finished. The white wolf only nodded, giving him a slight nudge with his head before walking back to his pack. Jaskier felt a little bit better now. He was still in pain, but he felt like he could move around a little bit more, though he did not try to stand up at all since he knew that would be a mistake.

The next day, the white wolf shared his breakfast, lunch, and dinner with Jaskier. Jaskier was completely sure this wolf was trying to court him now. Why would he be giving him part of all of his food if he wasn’t?

“What is your name?” The white wolf asked that night as he watched Jaskier eat dinner. 

Jaskier glanced up at him shyly. The two hadn’t spoken to each other much so far, so it was weird hearing the other start up a conversation. In his old pack, Jaskier was known to be the chattiest of any of the wolves, but right now he was hurt and still kind of scared, so he wasn’t speaking nearly as much as he was used to talking.

“Jaskier,” he told him.

“I am Geralt,” the white wolf said. “I am in charge of the pack you have been watching.”

Jaskier bowed his head in embarrassment, refusing to meet Geralt’s eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be weird. I just… didn’t have anywhere else to go, and I didn’t know what to do, so I figured… if I’m going to die anyway, might as well be near others when it happened, even if they didn’t know me and vice versa.”

Geralt looked shocked at what he said. Jaskier could not tell if it was because of the content of his words or because he was surprised about how much Jaskier could talk at once. 

“It is alright,” Geralt said.

The next few days were similar. Geralt and Jaskier talked more and more after that initial conversation. Well, Jaskier usually talked while Geralt listened, but both liked the interactions they had with each other. Once Jaskier was strong enough to move around again, Geralt began to teach him the basics of how to hunt so that he could fend for himself when he needed to. Jaskier was grateful for the lessons, even if he didn’t understand everything right away.

Jaskier was wary of being around the rest of the pack at first. He tended to avoid them and only seek out Geralt when he knew he was alone. Eventually, Geralt forced him to go meet the rest of them, and he found that they were not as scary as he thought they would be. Ciri and Eskel took to him immediately, both wanting him to be their friend. Vesemir was nice enough, though strict with the other alphas at times, and Jaskier found that he felt the same comfortable feeling around him that he once felt with his own father. Lambert and Yennefer were the ones he was most terrified to meet, but once they warmed up to him and him to them, he no longer felt like they were going to try and get rid of him at any chance they could get.

The pack began to accept Jaskier as one of their own, even if he was not officially part of their pack. They made sure he was properly learning every skill he missed out on and was encouraging him to be himself and talk as much as he wanted. Ciri especially loved hearing his stories, which he was always glad to tell.

About a month later, Geralt pulled Jaskier aside to have a serious conversation with him. 

“Jaskier,” he said, “I know you haven’t been wanting to talk about this, but I really need to know before I ask my next question: what brought you to us?”

Jaskier hesitated, but he decided it was better to answer than to put it off any longer. “My pack was from the forest area. There are more towns near the forests than there are around the mountains. Hunters found us one day, and they ended up killing my entire pack. I was the only one who got away, and I ran into the mountains to get as far away from the hunters as I could. When I realized how much a mistake it was for me to run into unfamiliar territory, I was already lost. I did not know how to get back to the forest. Then I ran into your pack, and I realized it was either risk it around here and try to stick around or keep going and die alone and still lost.”

Geralt whimpered when he heard Jaskier’s story. He felt bad for the omega. He had not realized that he had gone through so much pain, and his pack caused him even more after that. He should have helped him from the start. 

“I’m sorry for not helping you sooner,” Geralt said.

“It’s alright,” Jaskier reassured him. “I was a stranger. You had no idea why I was there, and I didn’t make much of an effort to try and show I was completely harmless. I’m thankful you eventually decided to approach me when you did.”

“Jaskier,” Geralt moved closer to him, nudging his cheek with his nose, “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes, Geralt?” Jaskier asked, breathless. This white wolf was beautiful, and he was very much enjoying having his attention on him.

“We’ve known each other for a little while now, and, well, we’ve been practically courting without really saying anything to each other about it this entire time. I was wondering if you’d like to make it official.”

Jaskier beamed at him. “You mean you want to become mates? You want me to be part of your pack?”

“Hmm,” Geralt said, “yes.”

“Yes, Geralt, of course I’d want to mate with you!” Jaskier exclaimed, leaping at Geralt and burying himself into his neck in happiness.

That night, the pack watched as the two snuggled up next to each other to sleep. They hadn’t mentioned anything about planning to become mates to the pack yet since they wanted to finish with the rest of the courting gestures first before they told them, but they were too impatient to wait to sleep next to each other. The pack still found it cute that they were so protective of each other even in sleep even though they did not yet know of their relationship.

...

It was a few nights later when things started to go wrong again. The beginning of winter was upon them, and Geralt watched nervously as Jaskier shivered next to him. It was obvious that the omega was not used to being in the winter temperatures of the mountains, so he would have to make sure to find ways to keep his future mate warm. 

He was shoving more dinner towards Jaskier as he thought this when Lambert decided it was best to open his damn mouth.

“Geralt, why are you still sharing your food with him? He’s practically one of us now, and he knows how to hunt for food now. You don’t have to share your food in pity anymore.”

“What?” Jaskier squeaked. “Pity?”

“No, Jaskier-” Geralt began, but he was interrupted.

“Yeah” Lambert said, “ that day when Geralt saved you from starving, he felt bad for you, so he decided to give you some food.”

“Is that true, Geralt?” Jaskier asked. “Was all of this out of pity?”

“Well,” Geralt tried to say, but he was once again interrupted.

“Is this a joke to you? Are my feelings a freaking joke to you? You should have just told me instead of leading me on. And what about when you asked me to mate with you, huh? Was that out of pity too?”

“Jaskier-”

“No! I don’t want to hear it.”

With that, Jaskier got up and ran away from the pack. Geralt tried to follow, but Eskel and Vesemir got in his way.

“Move,” Geralt growled.

“Give him some time to calm down,” Eskel said. “You’ll only make it worse if you follow him now.”

“I told you to make your intentions clear from the start,” Vesemir said, “so that this wouldn’t happen. Leave him be for now. You can go after him later.”

“It’s too cold to leave him alone,” Geralt said.

“He can handle the cold for a few moments.”

“Geralt,” Lambert’s voice hesitantly called out. 

Geralt immediately rounded on him and growled harshly. “What do you want?”

“Did he mean what he said? Did you ask him to be your mate?”

Geralt nodded, still glaring harshly at the other alpha.

“I-I’m sorry, Geralt. I did not know. I thought you were still doing it because you thought he needed help. I did not realize it was because you were courting.”

Geralt’s gaze softened. He knew he shouldn’t be too mad at his pack for not knowing that he and Jaskier were planning to mate. He was mad that Lambert caused Jaskier to think he didn’t actually care for him, but he knew not to be too upset since he had not known all of the details.

“Geralt,” another voice said. Ciri came up to him, a worried look in her eyes. “It’s getting colder.”

She was right. The temperature had dropped in the short time it took between Jaskier running away and Geralt forgiving his pack. If Jaskier was shivering earlier when he was near other wolves, he must have been freezing now that he was alone without any other body heat.

“I’m going after him,” Geralt stated. Nobody protested this time. Eskel stepped out of his way while Vesemir nodded at him. Geralt took off as fast as he could, running the direction that Jaskier had gone. He couldn’t have gotten too far since he wasn’t used to running on mountain terrain yet. 

It took longer than Geralt had wanted, but he eventually found Jaskier. He was laying in a cave he found that protected him from the fierce winds that were starting to pick up. He looked exhausted, and he was shaking violently in the cold. 

“Jaskier,” Geralt whimpered, curling around the other wolf. Jaskier whined back to him, pressing himself closer to Geralt’s body heat. 

“‘S cold,” Jaskier said miserably.

“I know,” Geralt said, “I’m here now. I’ll keep you warm.”

The two stayed like that, Geralt warming Jaskier up as much as he could. He was pretty much laying on top of him like a blanket in his efforts to keep him warm, and he was nuzzling him for comfort. Jaskier’s shaking lessened, but it did not fully go away.

“I’m sorry,” Geralt told him after some time, knowing that he needed to get Jaskier to fully trust him again. “I should have known you would have taken the first time I shared food with you as a sign of courting. I should have explained myself to you. But Jaskier, I meant it when I said I wanted to be mates. The first time might not have been intended as a courting gift, but I definitely meant sharing food with you to be for courting once I got to know you more. I love you, Jaskier. Please believe me when I say that.”

Jaskier was silent for a moment, trying to compose himself before he spoke. “Geralt, that was the most I have ever heard you talk.”

Geralt growled at him quietly, causing Jaskier to chuckle a bit before he continued on.

“I love you too. I’m sorry I overreacted.”

“You had every right to.”

The two of them stayed in that cave throughout the night, Geralt protecting Jaskier from the cold the entire time. They stayed there in the morning, content to just snuggle and enjoy their time together even with the temperature slightly higher in the sunlight and the danger of freezing to death gone for the moment. The rest of the pack came looking for them at one point, but when they saw them together in the cave, they knew not to worry any longer. 

The two wolves were going to be perfectly fine together.


End file.
